Referee who broke down in tears after Champions League game to take charge of England's Euro 2024 opener
The referee for England's Euro 2024 opener against Serbia has been confirmed.
England head into this summer's tournament in Germany as the bookmakers' favourites to win.
The Three Lions had mixed results in their warm-up matches for the Euros, beating Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0 before losing 1-0 to Iceland at Wembley.
But they will be confident of starting the tournament with a victory when they face Serbia at Schalke's Arena AufSchalke stadium on Sunday.
Advert
The officials for the Group C match have now been confirmed, and it will be Italy's Daniele Orsato who will take charge of the contest.
He will be joined by two Italian assistants, Ciro Carbone and Alessandro Giallatini, while the fourth official is Slovakia's Ivan Kruzliak.
Orsato, 48, has been a FIFA-listed referee since 2010, making him one of the most experienced officials at the Euros.
But it is set to be his final international tournament as a referee.
Last month, he officiated his final Champions League match when PSG took on Borussia Dortmund in the second leg of their semi-final at the Parc des Princes.
Mats Hummels scored the winning goal for Dortmund on the night to seal a 2-0 aggregate victory for the German side, who eventually lost to Real Madrid in the final at Wembley.
As he blew the final whistle in Paris, Orsato burst into tears – the emotion of his last ever Champions League match overcoming him.
The highlight of his refereeing career so far came back in 2020 when he oversaw the Champions League final in Lisbon, which saw Bayern Munich defeat PSG.
But he could yet top that if he is selected for the Euros final this summer, with his first match of the tournament coming this weekend.
England head into the game as strong favourites but Gareth Southgate warned his side against complacency following their defeat to Iceland.
"It does focus the mind, it does focus on how we have to drive the team, the sort of reaction we need," the England boss said of the shock loss to the side 72nd in FIFA’s world rankings.
"That any sort of complacency that talent is going to get us this trophy and that we only have to sort of stroll in... I mean, football is not like that."
SPORTbible are on WhatsApp! We've launched a dedicated transfer news channel to send you the latest deals, rumours and more directly on WhatsApp and all you need to do to sign up is click through to our one-way broadcast channel here for 'SPORTbible News' to appear in the 'Updates' tab on your WhatsApp.
Rory O'Callaghan